Fighting With Light (The Coldwell Brothers #2)

7. Liam

7

Liam

I made sure my villa was cleaned up for tonight. I don’t usually have the staff come in that often, depending on how long I’m here. Plus, there are things that I don’t want them to see, like my computers and the knives I swiped from the kitchen. But I had them come in, clean the bathroom, and change the sheets. Not that we’ll be going that far.

My brothers think I’m a little off and I don’t disagree with them, but this is something I take no pleasure in doing. My gut is telling me she doesn’t know anything, but I have to be absolutely certain. And because I can’t charm it out of her after everything I’ve tried, this is how it will have to be.

***

It’s boiling, but I wore real clothes this time, linen shorts, button up, and sandals. My heart is beating so hard with the conflict of emotions angrily pulling me in two different directions as I walk to Aelia’s villa.

My family has had to sacrifice everything to get to where we are. Most may not see it that way, but they don’t know what it’s like to be the youngest, the most protected, and see your mother and your brothers take the brunt. They shed their blood to keep our father away from me as much as they could.

This is not just duty. This is penance. This is doing the hard thing so my brothers don’t have to.

Emerson has always stood in front of us. He’s the oldest out of the three of us and the first to get hit, aside from Mom .

I always make sure I’m there to pull the trigger if I need to be. Emerson has done enough and it’s my turn to do what has to be done. There have been times when he still won’t let me, though. I think there is still a part of him that believes he has to do whatever it takes to protect his family, even if that means doing it alone. But we’re not teenage boys anymore and we each can hold our own. One, Emerson, doesn’t seem to get that.

I turn on Three, my alter ego. My brothers and I have nicknames for each other, One, Two, and Three, when we have to be different people for the sake of our family. They are more like a mindset. We have to push the person we actually are to the side and allow the focused, trained killer to take the wheel. Typically, that’s no problem at all and I can flip it like a switch. But this time, it’s different. I have to keep the charm on and the focus grounded in order for me to do what I need to do.

I knock on Aelia’s front door and hear her heels click towards it. She throws it open and pops her hand on her hip. “Since when do you come to the front door?” she quips.

I shrug and throw her a smile. “I mean, we’re going this way, so it made sense to me.” She stares at me intensely with soft, green eyes, like she’s seeing something that makes her sad. I clear my throat and run my hand through my hair. “Are you ready, princess?” I ask her.

“Yeah, just let me grab my stuff.” I step into the foyer of her villa and close the door, letting the AC cool me down before we go back out into the sweltering heat. When I called her princess the other day, it just popped out of my mouth. Most wouldn’t have blinked. But I know she did, only she doesn’t realize that I know who she really is. Luckily, I was able to play it off as a nickname that she seemed to be okay with, and I can’t lie to myself. I enjoy calling her princess.

She comes back around the corner and I really look at her. I was more focused on her expression when she opened the door. She’s wearing the dress I bought her. It’s a beautiful, deep red with a gold pattern on it. “You look beautiful,” I tell her. Her cheeks tinge pink.

“Thank you,” she says, looking up at me from under her long lashes. Her hair is twisted again, up off her neck, and she has a diamond necklace paired with a gold chain and pendant hanging from it on her bronze skin that’s even darker from the sun. I step to the side and open the door for her to go first and her cherry scent wafts into my nose as she glides past me.

There are three different restaurants in the resort, they combine different kinds of food, not just Balinese. Since we did the local place already, I figured she might be interested in trying the restaurant with more to pick from. We walk nearly to the other side of the resort in silence and I feel like I’m going to blow it. She’s going to know something is up because I’m so quiet.

The restaurant is half inside, half outside. “Do you want to sit inside or outside?”

She sighs and looks at me over her shoulder. “As much as I wish I could say outside, it needs to be inside because it is too damn hot, and as you said, I’m a princess, ” she says and winks.

I chuckle and hold the door open for her.

The host seats us and the blessed air conditioning cools the sweat on my skin. Aelia sits down and takes a large gulp of water. “Can I ask you something?” she says, leaning forward.

I take a drink of water. “Sure. We should play twenty questions.” If I can avoid what’s set up in my room by getting answers now, I will.

“Okay, I’m down, but I go first,” she says.

I smile and make a gesture for her to go ahead.

“Why does it feel like you don’t want to sleep with me?”

I almost choke on my water and cough a little. That’s not what I expected at all.

“I don’t mean to be crass, but I’ve given you every opening to…take me, and you haven’t tried once.”

I shake my head and the waiter comes up with our menus, handing them to us silently, picking up on the fact we are in the middle of a conversation. Before he walks off, I ask him for a whiskey sour. She leans back into her seat and crosses her arms.

“You need liquor to help you answer that question?” she snips .

I laugh again because that statement is utterly and completely ridiculous. We probably would have never left her villa after day one if she wasn’t who she is. But I am a Coldwell and she is a Costa. Those two things don’t go together; only she doesn’t know that.

“No, Aelia, I don’t. And yes, there was a reason for that.”

“Oh?” she says, lifting her eyebrow. “Please, enlighten me.”

The waiter brings me my drink and she orders a Cosmo before he leaves. I take a sip and relax back into my chair.

I picked up on this game between us the first night we had dinner. She likes a challenge and she’s a man-eater. Most men would hesitate with a woman like her. But I don’t just see a sassy woman with a keen ability to avoid her life as much as possible. I see a woman who wants someone to challenge her back. She wants someone who can take the weight from her, not because she can’t carry it on her own, but simply because she doesn’t have to.

Aelia Costa is someone who had to be strong from day one. I know a little something about that. But she is also someone that wants to be loved, as she is, after everything is stripped away.

Her way of testing the waters is seeing if the man she chose will stay and pursue her as recklessly as she wants to be loved. Well, I am a man that is up to the task, but the difference is I can’t be what she needs, even if I wanted to.

“I’m waiting, Liam,” she sighs, clearly getting irritated with me because I didn’t answer immediately.

I grin and take another sip. “I know how I appear, but I am not that easy and you deserve to be treated well. You are much more than a one-night stand.” She drops her arms and the waiter delivers her Cosmo. I ordered an appetizer, and I didn’t even read it. I just pointed so he would go away.

“What game are you trying to play?” she asks, pursing those pretty lips.

I chuckle. “Why is it a game if I don’t want to have a one-night stand with you and leave before you wake up? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my fair share of those, but —”

“ Please don’t tell me you’re about to say, but you changed all of that, Aelia, “ she says in a mocking tone .

I smile, running my tongue over the edge of my teeth. “No, princess, I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say you deserve to keep me at least until morning.”

She laughs, and it’s sarcastic, but I can see the…wheels turning in her head. “What if I don’t want you until morning?” she asks.

I shrug, taking another drink. “Your loss. I’ve been told I’m great at wake-up calls.”

She narrows her eyes at me and takes a sip of her Cosmo.

“If you’re a one-night stand, why can’t I be?”

I tilt my head, considering her odd question.

“I mean, you can, but…” I trail off. Ever since I got here from California after everything that happened with Kai, Cordelia, and Mom, I went right back into my normal routine. I didn’t think twice about it. I had to in order to cope. Some girls only wanted one night, others wanted to date casually, and both were fine with me because I’m down for a good time. I’m a one-woman-at-a-time kind of man, or a playboy, as my brothers like to call me. But I treat everyone with respect and I always take care of them. Mama raised me to be a gentleman.

But all of that changed when I saw Aelia show up for the rock climbing excursion. So she’s not entirely wrong about her changing everything for me because she did, just not how she thinks. “Is it so bad that I just wanted to get to know you first?”

Her tongue dips out over her lips and I think she’s a little speechless. I know I am part of the problem that subscribes to modern-day hookups and relationships, but that doesn’t mean that change can’t happen. And honestly, if she wasn’t Marco Costa’s daughter, I would still be doing this. She challenges me, and I like that. No woman, other than my mother, has done that before. Aelia appeals to the other part of me, the darker part that no woman sees. She will be the first and hopefully the last.

“I guess you can,” she says. She looks at me curiously. “You are certainly more interesting than any man I’ve come into contact with. ”

The waiter brings our appetizer of small bao buns. “I like to keep an air of mystery, princess. I’m surprised you haven’t picked up on that,” I tell her and wink as I take a bite of the bun.

She grabs her own and levels me with a stare. “And I have a feeling the mystery is about to be revealed tonight?”

“If you want it to.”

She takes a bite while staring at me. “I believe I do,” she says. Her smoky voice sends an unwanted shiver down my back and I toss her a wink.

We order dinner and eat while we make small talk, and the tension at the table keeps increasing. For me, it feels like I’m ripping in two. Truth be told, I like Aelia, and would have tried to give her and me a real shot, which is saying something because I’ve never felt like this for a woman. On the other side, I’m ready to get this over with. I want to figure out what she knows and then leave. The moment her father finds out about me, there is no question in my mind he will come after us with or without my father’s permission. I am playing with fire right now, but there is a price for everything, and I am okay with getting burned, especially if it protects my family.

I charge our dinner to my villa and follow Aelia out of the restaurant. Instead of walking back the same way, she walks towards the ocean. I groan silently because I don’t want to drag out this torture any more than necessary. I chuckle to myself at the thought. It’s funny because I do much worse to others when I’m trying to get something from them.

The breeze dances with Aelia’s dress and she looks at me with sultry eyes over her shoulder. Then she continues walking to the shore. I kick my shoes off and follow her through the sand. My chest gets tighter the further I veer off my mission, and I have to remind myself that she is a long game kind of woman. But I know a way I can speed up the process.

“You sure know how to make a slow burn simmer,” I say into her ear and slide my hands around her hips.

She looks up with a mischievous smile and leans back into my chest. “I thought I was worth the wait,” she whispers .

I lean down and kiss her temple. “You are,” I tell her because she is, regardless of the circumstances.

“So what’s another ten minutes?” she asks.

I look out at the waves and take a deep breath, spinning her body to face mine. I grab her chin, loving how malleable she is for me and hating myself altogether as I roughly kiss her. Her teeth scrape my lip and my tongue slides against hers, creating one of the most addictive kisses I’ve ever had. She makes my body feel warm. She makes me want to take her to bed and lay waste to everything in my path. Aelia Costa is becoming my weakness, and she will never find out.

I pull my mouth away and she takes a deep breath against me. “Come on,” I command, and grab her hand, linking our fingers together. She follows me back up to my place, stopping us a few times to push us into a dark corner to make out like we’re teenagers. I can’t take it anymore, so we jog to my villa. I throw the door open and then lock it before I push her up against it. Her lips part with a small gasp and her jade eyes zing over my face.

I crowd her against the metal and grab her hands, pushing them up above her head, holding them together with one hand, then grab her leg, hooking it around my waist. She jolts in my hold and I grin at her frustration. I take her mouth and she kisses me back with an intense fervor. The same electricity I felt when we kissed for the first time has only increased in voltage now.

She may be the end of me.

Aelia moans into my mouth and my hips bump hers. Groaning, I pull away and let her wrists go, lifting her up to carry her to the bed. I fall with her, landing on top, and trail my lips from her chest to her neck. She leans her head to the side, opening for me, while I take a deep inhale of cherries.

“You smell so damn good,” I say into her neck.

She giggles and grabs my cheeks to kiss me again. Her lips are charged with want, sparking against mine. They are like fuel to the fire between us and the need only gets more and more intense.

“Liam,” she whines.

I growl and nip at her chin.

“Please,” she gasps.

I lean back and look at her. “Are you begging for me, princess?”

She growls and yanks on my hair.

I kiss her again. “I could get used to that.”

She bites my lip hard and says, “Don’t get used to it, Tarzan.”

I smile and realize I’ve completely forgotten what I was supposed to be doing. Our lips get sore and we pause for a moment long enough I can offer her a drink.

“Are you thirsty? Do you want a glass of wine?” She shrugs and pushes herself up against the headboard.

“Yeah, that sounds great if you have it.” I go to the mini bar and make us each a drink. She’s looking down at her phone and I slip the crushed up sleeping pills into her wine. It’s not roofies, it will just make her tired and she’ll fall asleep before this can get any further. I’m not a good man, but that is something I would never do. There are lines you cross and stains you accept for your family. But that is one that is never justifiable. No one deserves that.

She will hopefully be asleep long enough for me to tie her up before I ask questions. I hand her the glass and go to the other side of the bed to sit next to her. She cuddles into my side and it makes my stomach twist.

“You know…I’m here for almost another week. Have you ever had a Bali fling?”

I smile and take a sip. “You know the answer to that.”

She grins and takes a big gulp. “Yes, I do, but it doesn’t matter because none of those women were me.”

I huff a laugh and look down at her. “No, no they were not.”

“So, does that mean you want to have a Bali fling with me?”

Sleeping pills please work faster.

“You’re that confident about our chemistry?” I ask her.

She nods and takes another drink. “Based on the way you kiss me, I’m positive I won’t want to leave this bed,” she says and kisses me.

If only.

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” I tell her. She grins and then yawns.

“This wine has made me sleepy,” she says.

“We have had a few drinks,” I say .

She takes another sip and angles her head to kiss me again. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see she’s drank about half of her glass. So I set my glass on the nightstand, then take hers out of her hand.

She lifts her chin to kiss me and I lean in to be as convincing to her as I can be about where she thinks this is going. Her nails scrape up against my neck and a little groan slips from my lips. I pull away and her eyes are sleepy. Her grip on my neck loosens and her eyes shut while her arm drops a little. I gingerly get off of her and poke her shoulder a few times. She doesn’t move and a snore bubbles from her lips. I stifle a laugh, she’s out cold.

Moving quickly, I grab my handcuffs from the drawer and lift each wrist toward the headboard. Looping the handcuffs through the bars of the coated steel bed frame, I lock each of her wrists into them. Next, I grab her feet and tie them together, then rope them to the edge of the platform bed.

I wait for a minute, wondering if the jostling woke her up, but she’s still sound asleep. I grab her phone, type in the code I saw her use, and get to work copying the phone to my computer. When that’s done, I put her phone back where I found it.

After that I gather my knives, a washcloth, duct tape, and settle in the chair next to the bed to wait. I didn’t give her much, but the point of the sleeping pills is to help you stay asleep, so this could be a long night, but it doesn’t matter, she will wake up sooner or later.